The Trump Administration is proposing a merger of Education Department and Department of Labor. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night (6/20) that the proposed merger comes “after a monthlong review of cabinet agencies with an eye toward shrinking the federal government.” The change to cabinet level departments would require approval from congress, which is not likely in during an election year.

The new plan echoes Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s previous calling for a “major shift” in higher education. This past November DeVos held council where she concentrated on the importance of local businesses and companies working with community colleges and local schools, arguing for changes in curriculums to better reflect the needs of businesses and “real world” jobs. At the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council held in November, Secretary DeVos said, “We need to expand our thinking on what apprenticeships actually look like…we need to start treating students as individuals, not boxing them in.”

Additionally, The Department of Labor and the American Association of Community Colleges recently set up a task force to discuss the future expansion of apprenticeship programs within higher education. The Department of Labor’s Ondray Harris said, “Apprenticeships are a way to close that skills gap—to earn and learn. I think it’s a natural fit for community colleges.” In order to facilitate the expansion of apprenticeship programs, the DOL has set up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AACC to work closer with community colleges and grow apprenticeship programs. Regarding the upcoming Memorandum, the director of the DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship John Ladd said “It’s the absolute next step in the evolution of this partnership.”

According to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, “Since the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the department is working closer than ever with the Department of Education to align workforce education programs, plans and performance requirements.” An official announcement is expected today from the White House.

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On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on its proposition to repeal current net neutrality rules in place. The basic principle of net neutrality prevents internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating (slowing/blocking) against internet access, websites, or applications based on content or services. On college and university campuses, the impending proposal has many concerned about its relation to educational access and increased tuition costs.

Colleges campuses are currently home to massive research and online programs that are essential to an institution’s academic and financial identity. According to a 2017 study performed by the Babson Survey Research Group, from 2012 to 2015 the number of students taking online courses grew by 11 percent. Developments in distance education have been made possible by relatively equal access to the internet. In March and July, higher education and library organizations representing hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide sent essays and letters to the FCC chairman Ajit Pai, urging him to uphold the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order. In a letter this March to Pai, Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education wrote:

Maintaining access to the information fast lane is essential to the academic and civic missions of our colleges and universities and to the important work done every day at those institutions by millions of students, researchers, faculty and staff. These net neutrality principles, now more than ever, are needed to ensure that the internet remains open, accessible and affordable to all.

Another result of repealing net neutrality is the introduction of ‘paid prioritization’. Paid prioritization is the notion of ISPs selling faster or prioritized internet services to entities that pay a higher fee, or degrading services to applications that compete with an ISPs’ own services. Higher education institutions that cannot afford to pay this fee will experience slower internet speeds, and the schools that do pay will most likely pass this fee onto its students in the form of a tuition increase. The senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education (ACE) Terry Hartle said, “Those costs can’t simply be swallowed by schools, so they will be passed on to students and their families without any additional benefit to them.”

In a letter delivered today, 28 Senators asked that the FCC delay the “monumental decision” to dismantle net neutrality saying, “By overturning the Commission’s current rules that preserve net neutrality and prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or otherwise privileging lawful content, we fear that the Draft Order could harm our nation’s students and schools.” The letter also argues that removing net neutrality would lead to a “tiered and compartmentalized internet” that would limit students and schools who can’t afford it.

FCC’s Chairman Pai argues that abolishing net neutrality would lead to a freer market, with higher investments in the internet service provider (ISP) sector—in turn allowing ISPs to develop and grow beneficial services while promoting competition. Currently competition among ISPs is nearly non-existent in many U.S. locations. The FCC is set to vote on its proposal to remove net neutrality protections this Thursday, December 14th.

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Education Secretary Betsy Devos is calling for a “major shift” in higher education from its emphasis on traditional four-year degrees. At the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council gathering, Devos stressed the importance of apprenticeship programs to fill jobs. She said, “For decades now, we have given the subtle, or not so subtle, message that the only path for a successful life is a four-year degree.” Devos continued with, “We have to give students a much wider venue of opportunities starting in high school and middle school to help guide them into a productive future.”

The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council was held in Washington D.C. last week, and Secretary Devos concentrated on the importance of local businesses and companies working with community colleges and local schools. Devos also argued for change in the curriculum of schools to better reflect the needs of businesses and “real world” jobs saying, “We need to expand our thinking on what apprenticeships actually look like…we need to start treating students as individuals, not boxing them in.”

Devos’ remarks come a day after officials from four major companies—IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Lincoln Electric—met with the Department of Labor and the American Association of Community Colleges to set up a task force and discuss the future expansion of apprenticeship programs within higher education. The Department of Labor’s Ondray Harris said, “Apprenticeships are a way to close that skills gap—to earn and learn. I think it’s a natural fit for community colleges.” In order to facilitate the expansion of apprenticeship programs, the DOL has set up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AACC to work closer with community colleges and grow apprenticeship programs. Regarding the upcoming Memorandum, the director of the DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship John Ladd said “It’s the absolute next step in the evolution of this partnership.”

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According to recent research from the United States Department of Agriculture and National Student Clearinghouse, students in rural areas are less likely than their urban peers to attend higher education institutions—despite testing higher and graduating from high school at higher rates.

High school Graduation Rates:

Suburban/Town students: 79%

Urban Students 69%

Rural Students 80%

College enrollment rates directly out of high school:

Suburban students: 67%

Urban students: 62%

Rural Students: 59 %

One reason is that historically, a college degree has not always been necessary in rural areas. Students out of high school could once find high paying unskilled work on farms and at factories with blue collar jobs. With the increase in automation and the growth of job outsourcing overseas, rural Americans have seen their job prospects drop considerably. Rural regions also tend to see less value in higher education. Pew Research found that fewer people in the rural community are convinced that enrolling in college is worth it with 71% of rural white men believing that college plays an essential role in providing necessary skills, while 82% and 84% of urban and suburban white men believe it does.

Other factors in lower rural college enrollment rates:

Higher rates of drug and mental health problems

Higher rates of poverty—household incomes are 20 to 25 percent below national averages.

Less access to high speed internet/technology

Lower rates of high school teacher recruitment and retention

Colleges have taken notice of this gap and are beginning to increase recruitment efforts in rural areas. According to a survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup, 38% of surveyed college admissions directors plan to concentrate on recruiting rural students in the coming year. Schools are also looking to provide better access to higher education through fellowship and scholarship opportunities, with schools like Clemson and Duke University that offer scholarships aimed at students located in remote areas. States like Oklahoma and Texas are also offering new programs, such as College Forward, aimed at expanding free counseling to potential students in rural areas.

Extending class times, allowing students more time to travel the longer distances

Increased internet access on remote campuses

As economies in rural areas continue to shift toward careers that require postsecondary educations, it is becoming increasingly imperative for students in those areas attain degrees. Despite previously receiving less attention from the higher education community, increased recruitment efforts and programs in said areas may improve the educational attainment and economic interests of rural communities as a whole.

With 90 percent of college students owning a smartphone (46 percent own a tablet), colleges and universities are no longer debating whether to develop their own mobile platforms. Instead, they are creating new apps for students who are consistently using their smartphones more and more. Recruitment-focused apps tend to provide prospectus-type information, while apps leaning towards engagement try to increase the value of a student’s experience itself.

On campus, recruiters are using new campus tour apps that allow prospective students to explore campuses on their own time, and at their own pace. The apps use GPS to guide users to key points on campus. When prospective students arrive at the points of interest—audio, visual, and other effects can be used to offer information on specific locations, interests, and events. Catholic University in Washington D.C., highlights its unique architecture, and Findlay University boasts of its equestrian and vet facilities. Other advantages of virtual college tour apps include tours being offered in multiple languages, and the use of real-time analytics to gather data.

Colleges and universities are also using apps to engage with students beyond campus maps and class schedules. The University of Notre Dame’s campus app provides multiple features for students such as modules for laundry availability, safe ride requests, and indoor maps—which help students navigate and find key locations such as offices, classrooms, and printers. UVA uses its smartphone application to help students connect to support services, such as peer counseling and mental health facilities.

Beyond the Instagram and Facebook pages of higher education institutions, mobile apps are becoming increasingly necessary for schools who want to attract and maintain relevance across their populace of potential students. As of last fall, 79 percent of colleges and universities had working mobile apps or planned to offer them by the end of the academic year. This is up 20 percent from the previous year, and 40% from 2012. According to Amy Boyd, project manager for the app at Texas State University Moblie, “Everything seems to be going mobile, and if you don’t have that, you’re really falling behind the times.”

Purdue University recently announced its intention to acquire the for-profit Kaplan University system. If approved, the move would set a major precedent in the integration of for-profits with traditional colleges and universities. Purdue President and former Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels said, “A public university coming together with an established online university I think is by any definition a national first.”

The Kaplan system, which includes online learning programs, 15 campuses, 32,000 enrolled students and 3,000 employees, was purchased from its parent company, Graham Holdings, for $1 in a revenue sharing agreement that allows current Kaplan officials to continue running the new entity. Under the terms of the agreement, Kaplan will receive 12.5% of the public, nonprofit benefit corporation’s yearly revenue. If the merger is approved, Purdue will solidify its position as the first large flagship university to merge with a major for-profit player in online education.

Critics in higher education see the new partnership as a way for Kaplan to rebrand by becoming a non-profit and attaching itself to a reputable university. Bob Shireman of the Century Foundation—a think tank that investigates for-profit institutions—told the USA Today that the deal is like a bad restaurant being able to claim new ownership in order to improve its reputation without making any additional changes. Nonprofit schools are not subject to the strict regulations that have been placed on for-profit institutions in recent years. Critics also point out that Kaplan has been the focal point of past government investigations and lawsuits.

Many of the faculty at Purdue University disagree with the decision. The Purdue University Senate has passed a resolution against the Kaplan merger condemning the Board of Trustees for entering into a deal with little faculty input. Some worry that the Purdue brand will be diluted and students will be left with insignificant degrees. Bill Mullen, a Purdue professor, criticized the school by saying, “They (faculty) were never consulted about this plan, even though it is their work and excellence that has made Purdue one of the elite Universities in the world. Daniels (Purdue’s President) dirty deal with Kaplan permanently stains Purdue’s academic reputation and ruthlessly exploits the labor of its students, staff, and faculty.”

Donald Graham of Graham Holdings, Kaplan’s parent company, says Kaplan and Purdue “share the critical mission of expanding access to education,” and views the deal as mutually beneficial. Purdue will be able to tap into a new online market and student demographic, while Kaplan will become part of a respected public Purdue system. Proponents believe the merger will provide new opportunities for nontraditional as well as former students who want to resume educations they previously put on hold. The acquisition depends on approval from both state and federal regulators, including the Department of Education and the Higher Learning Commission. If approved, the deal has the potential to change the way traditional higher education institutions operate, with more for-profit to nonprofit partnerships likely.

For updates on the Kaplan deal, changes in higher education administrators, and school accreditation info visit our website at hepinc.com.

Last week Fannie Mae announced an expansion of its student loan refinance program and shed light on new policies designed to help borrowers with student debt become qualified for mortgage loans. “We understand the significant role that a monthly student loan payment plays in a potential home buyer’s consideration to take on a mortgage, and we want to be part of the solution,” said Jonathan Lawless, vice president of customer solutions at Fannie Mae.

Fannie Mae’s new expansion includes a student loan cash-out refinance that offers homeowners a new way to pay off high interest student debt. The program works by homeowners refinancing their homes, and the bank sending the money to the student lender to completely pay off at least one loan. Currently, interest rates for home financing are below 4 percent, meaning it could save a borrower money (many student loans are topping 7 percent). For some, it may be a faster way to consolidate student loan debt at a lower rate.

However, by moving debt from a student loan to a home loan, borrowers lose protection. Student loans usually offer the option of an income-driven repayment plan or a deferral for financial difficulties. Mortgages do not. Rohit Chopra, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, says “Once you refinance and put it into your mortgage, you’re putting your house at risk.” Chopra expects the first users of the system will be parents who took out loans for their children’s education. These borrowers are more likely to pay high interest rates and have plenty of home equity.

Another new policy is a ‘debt paid by others’ solution that excludes non-mortgage debt — like car loans, credit cards, and student loans — paid by someone else (steadily for 12 months) from a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio. This is designed to improve the debt ratios of young buyers and widen their eligibility to qualify for a home loan.

According to Lawless, Fannie Mae started the new programs to help offset the negative effect student debt was having on the housing market. “We arrived at these product ideas after seeing the size of student loan debt, which is $1.4 trillion. But there’s another number to pay attention to – the $8 trillion in home equity,” Lawless said. “There is enough housing equity in California alone to pay off the student debt of the entire nation. We wanted to find a way to unlock that equity.”

Some lenders aren’t as enthusiastic about the changes. According to the Chicago Tribune, Steve Stamets, senior loan officer with Mortgage Link, worries about the sheer size of some student’s debts. He said previously these applicants couldn’t be approved under the old rules and now will qualify under the new program. If borrowers have trouble making full payments on mortgages, they could end up in default on their home mortgages. Fannie Mae expects mortgages that originate using the new system to have low default rates, and notes applicants must still meet regular credit score criteria. Rhohit Chopra, with the Consumer Federation of America, says “the jury is still out” on whether the program is a good thing. “New products and financial innovation can help borrowers save money,” he says, “but they can also be prone to abuse.”

As colleges continue to use big data more frequently, the long-term effects are yet to be fully understood. Major institutions and software companies see high tech programs as a means to an end in predicting the foreseeable outcome of students at colleges and universities. Though, this may to some extent be true, a growing number of students believe big data may be used to classify and designate them before they have a chance to get their academic careers off the ground. Students are concerned that data will depersonalize the student teacher relationship, and push them down a predestined path based off of a computer’s algorithm and not a student’s individual achievements.

Students from Michigan’s Macomb Community College raised concerns about these predictive programs recently at EduCon 2.9, an education and technology conference in Philadelphia. As reported by Hechinger Report, the panel of students from Macomb CC feel that existing stereotypes are already in place, and many students are not ready to trust the new, digital systems. “We don’t know who is choosing it and who is pulling the strings,” said Luis Manzano-Anzures, a student at Michigan’s Macomb Community College.

Proponents of big data’s predictive analytics argue that the programs are in place for the benefits of students. They say the information is there to identify students who are at risk of failure and provide support for those students. Students are still skeptical, asking what happens if analytical data is turned against them. Last year at Mount St. Mary’s University, their president made news after he proposed using their system’s data to find struggling students and “drown the bunnies” as he phrased it, to make them leave.

Students are worried that a similar type of program may be put into place. Hechinger Report concluded that the students at EduCon expressed concern that they won’t get to see the data being stored, and that computers may be overly predicative when it comes to academic ability. Many students see Ed tech systems that don’t take human relationships and outside influences into account. If a student is struggling because of personal reasons, predictive technology may not take that into consideration. For now, especially at community colleges where digital resources are limited and students and faculty concentrate on working class realities, digital technology may create a system that is unreliable at predicting the future of students.

In today’s competitive higher education market more schools are turning to online education to provide alternate revenue and growth. According to a recent poll from the National Center for Education Statistics, 25% of college and university students are taking some form of distance education courses. Colleges and universities often partner with third party entities, known as Online Program Managers, to cut overhead costs. OPMs are companies that design, run, and market online education programs for colleges and often receive a percentage of a student’s tuition in compensation. According to Online Report Card, this figure averages around 50%, and in some cases, is as high as 85%.

But why do non-profits turn to OPMs in the first place, thereby surrendering large amounts of tuition revenue? According to Inside Higher Education there are three basic reasons. Many schools have never tried distance learning in the first place, so they have a lot to learn. Some institutions do not have the internal expertise, whether it be the right people, systems, or technology. Lastly, most schools do not have the financial resources to sustain a program while supporting the necessary marketing effort. Though giving up high amounts of tuition revenue seems unappealing, most schools do not have a choice.

OPMs almost always operate on a tuition-splitting basis, but according to John Katzman, who opened one of the most successful OPMs in history, a new OPM model is taking hold. His company, Noodle Partners, uses a flat fee for services instead of tuition-sharing. Katzman says, “For a fee, we help schools assemble the tools, services, and tech to run great programs without taking money from students – it’s more flexible and transparent and wildly less expensive.”

According to Online Report Card, from 2013 to 2014, private not-for-profit institutions distance enrollments grew by 11.3%. For-profits saw enrollments drop by 2.8 %. An estimated 80% of online education programs are being outsourced to online program managers. According to research by Online Report Card, 85% of students who study at least partially online are at public schools and receive federal compensation. Millions of dollars in federal loans are being used to finance OPMs.

When the Obama administration decided to crack down on questionable for-profit market compensation, certain OPMs asked if tuition-sharing would still be allowed. The Department of Education agreed to continue to allow tuition sharing in public and nonprofit schools as a reaction to the notion that it had previously been allowed for for-profit schools. As a result, it now seems that nonprofit and public institutions are engaging in the same strategies that for-profits once used; aggressive, income driven marketing.

According to The Atlantic, Robert Shireman, a former Department of Education deputy in the Obama administration, believes that eventually public pressure and school leaders will bring change to the tuition-sharing process. John Katzman also believes in the transition, saying, “The only real question is, how quickly will the old revenue-sharing model die?”

A growing number of colleges and universities are using big data to identify student performance and whether a student is in danger of failing. Known as predictive analytics, colleges are analyzing thousands upon thousands of student’s academic and personal records in an effort to save the average college student from dropping out.

With less than half of college students graduating in four years, institutions are facing increased pressure from parents and lawmakers to improve success rates. Is big data the answer? The New York Times reports that predictive analytic companies are growing in number, and currently work with around 200 universities. These companies, as noted by The New York Times, identify trends in a backlog of student data and create computer programs that identify student progress and alert counselors when students are at risk of being left behind. The idea being that a student’s performance in a certain course may predict the student’s future at the school.

Civitas Learning is a predictive analytics company that has been hired by dozens of colleges and universities across the country. The New York Times reports that data analysts at Civitas found the likelihood of graduating dropped if students received less than an A or B in a basic course pertaining to their major. The Times notes that at the University of Arizona, English Comp was essential to a student’s performance. Less than half of students who received a C in the class ended up graduating, while close to 70 percent of students with A’s and B’s received a degree. As a result, The University of Arizona began to provide more resources for its incoming freshman in writing. Frederick Corey, Vice Provost at Arizona State, said the school has been using big data to recommend possible courses for students. This helps students pursue classes that may otherwise not count toward their major, saving wasted tuition and crucial credit hours.

The payoffs in predictive analytics have been worth it at Arizona State University. Since beginning the program nearly a decade ago, the school has seen its graduation rate grow by 20 percent. At Georgia State, in 2016 the four-year graduation rate rose 5 percent and the six-year rate rose 6 percent. By monitoring graduation rates, big data helps keep tuition coming in by keeping students from dropping out. Predictive analytics is still in its infancy, as only a few hundred institutions are currently using the system. However, as technology and data continue to integrate themselves into higher education, colleges and universities are becoming more open to the idea of its use.

In the wake of the recession, a growing number of small liberal arts colleges are facing major financial challenges. These small schools share specific traits: high tuition, minimal endowments, and locations in rural or suburban areas. Today’s students continue to shy away from expensive, liberal arts schools that leave them in debt and are considering larger, public universities. Moody’s recently released a report about college closures, and said the amount of colleges closing this year is expected to triple with small colleges the most at risk.

The recession has forced many students to think more about value. In recent years, larger schools have been able to offer better rates of financial aid and lower tuitions. With less students choosing smaller, more expensive universities, revenue from tuition has fallen. Bigger schools have bigger endowments, allowing for flexibility. Smaller, private schools don’t always have the assurance of large endowments to fall back on. When budgets are stretched, the first thing to go are specialized programs and facilities. Eventually smaller schools may be forced to lay off faculty and staff, thus decreasing overall value in the eyes of potential students.

Most recently, due to “financial challenges” St. Joseph’s College has announced that it will cease operations at the end of the spring semester. The school has lost $4 to $5 million each year since 2012. Board Chairman Benedict Sponseller says the school took out a large mortgage in hopes of increasing enrollment. When enrollment did not increase St. Joseph’s began to spend its endowment, around $24 million in 2015, to stop the bleeding. Currently the endowment is about $6 million; money the school plans to use for employees’ severance packages.

St. Joseph’s is not alone as Dowling College, St. Catharine College, and Marian Court College are among others who have shut their doors in recent years. David Warren, head of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, says small schools must understand their own value and cut costs to survive. With larger schools offering what today’s students want- generous financial aid, access to urban areas, and numerous school programs backed by large endowments- small liberal arts schools have a lot of value to make up.

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